Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 04 June 2025
A workshop on guiding the preparation of ‘World Heritage Nomination Dossier’ on inclusion of sites from A&N Islands in the UNESCO World Heritage Site listing was held in the Conference Hall of the Disaster Management Department on 02 June 2025. Organized by the Department of Art & Culture, this significant workshop was inaugurated by the Chief Secretary, A&N Islands, Dr. Chandra Bhushan Kumar, IAS, by lighting the traditional lamp in the presence of the ADG, ASI, Mr. Janhwij Sharma, senior officers of A&N Administration, historians and members of different communities, and others. The domain experts of the workshop included Dr. Kasturi Chakraborty, Director (ER), Geological Survey of India, Dr. Shikha Jain, Chairperson, DRONAH Foundation and Dr. Sonali Ghosh, IFS.
In his opening remarks, the Chief Secretary, at the outset, thanked the domain experts for visiting these Islands and to further guide A&N Administration on how to move forward for preparation of World Heritage Nomination Dossier. The Chief Secretary said that A&N Islands possess historical, natural and culturally significant heritage sites. This workshop will help our team to understand the nuances of proper documentation of our heritage sites in a time bound manner, the Chief Secretary added. He also released a brochure titled ‘Know Your Heritage’ on the occasion.
In her address, the Secretary, Art & Culture, Ms. Jyoti Kumari, IAS, heartily welcomed the domain experts & others to the workshop and said the idea of having the nomination of UNESCO World Heritage site was initiated by the Chief Secretary designating the Nancowry group of Islands and the Natural harbour of Kamorta as natural heritage in UNESCO World Heritage category. A&N Islands had two sites which are already in the tentative list i.e. Cellular Jail and the Narcondam Island. The objective of the workshop is to have an assessment of the nomination dossier for these two sites and the other four sites which the A&N Administration has sent this year for listing it in the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage sites and they are Govt. Saw Mill, Chatham Island, the Karst formation of Baratang, the Nicobarese Tribal Culture Continuity in Nancowry Group of Islands and the active Volcano in Barren Island. On submission of these tentative list proposals, the Administration also received letter from DG, ASI for submitting the preliminary assessment and nomination Dossier for the sites which have already been listed in the tentative list. Now, A&N Administration is under the process for floating the EoI and going ahead with the preparation of the Nomination Dossier, she added.
In his address on the occasion, the ADG, ASI, Mr. Janhwij Sharma spoke on ASI’s role in protecting India’s cultural heritage, including monuments, archaeological sites, and antiquities. The ADG emphasized the ASI’s commitment to preserving India’s rich cultural heritage for future generations. The ADG touched upon the ASI’s conservation efforts to protect monuments from deterioration and environmental damage. He also covered topics such as World Heritage, Project Mausam and Islands of Indian Ocean from trade perspective. A visit to the Cellular Jail and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Island has provided a glimpse of the potential the Union Territory have in terms of proposing certain nomination for world heritage sites, he added.
In the technical session, Dr. Shikha Jain, the Director & Chairperson, DRONAH Foundation through a power point presentation gave an elaborate information about the preparation of World Heritage Nomination Dossier. Dr. Sonali Ghosh, IFS enlightened the gathering on the criteria and process of listing natural heritage sites under UNESCO World Heritage Category. Dr. Kasturi Chakraborty, Director, ER, Geological Survey of India spoke on geological significance of sites in Andaman in perspective of geological evolution of A&N Islands.
A group activity on identifying values and attributes for nominated UNESCO’s sites was held. This was followed by presentations on the findings by each group and the proposal to take it forward.
In his closing remark, the Chief Secretary thanked the team of domain experts for the insightful discussions with the team from the Administration and non-official members from different communities which will enable the team from the Administration in better understanding of the process for nomination and for its proper and elaborate documentation. He said, the Administration is committed to take this forward and efforts will be made to take these sites in the tentative list.
Summing up the discussion, the Secretary (Art & Culture), Ms. Jyoti Kumari said, from the four insightful presentations followed by an engaging group discussion, important points that have emerged pertains to the scope for nominations in the cultural category, opportunities for transnational collaboration, preparation of dossier for world heritage nomination for inclusion in tentative list by Sept. 2025, administrative framework and post listing management besides creation of Geo Board in Sri Vijaya Puram with the help of Geological Survey of India. To carry this forward, committees have been formed at District and State Level which is headed by the Chief Secretary. The Secretary also informed about importance of site visitation and detail documentation of the proposals besides exploring other cultural landscapes. (Story Based on PR)